VIDEO: Chris Colfer and his love of blackmail

The 'Glee' star discusses his new film, 'Struck By Lightning.'

For "Struck by Lightning" Chris Colfer plays an aspiring outcast who blackmails his high school classmates into helping him make a literary magazine to better his application to Northwestern University. As it turns out, high school blackmail is something Colfer, who also wrote the film, knows a thing or two about.

I wanted to start by talking about the blackmail angle of this movie. What's the worst thing you ever did to a fellow high school classmate?

Blackmail, actually. Senior year I did a show that I wrote and directed called "Shirley Todd," which was a spoof of "Sweeney Todd," and I blackmailed pretty much all of my friends into being in it. I'm not proud of it, but I mean it had to be done. For instance, there was a girl that was in it who's a vegetarian, but I found a hamburger receipt in her car once and I held that against her. But mostly I just had, like, a manilla envelope that looked like it was full of stuff and I just kind of said, "I have information on you" but I really didn't.

And how did the show turn out?

It was great. I mean, I don't know if Clovis, Calif., was ready for that show because it was very, very graphic and sarcastic and really raunchy. Like, I look at it now and I think, God what was I thinking saying that in high school? But it was a hit. My grandma liked it.

Was it like the Sondheim version?

Yeah, it was a spoof on the Sondheim, but all the roles were gender-reversed. I think it's going to make a great Broadway debut someday. I really do. I'm confident.

You could direct it.

I would want to be in it.

For 2013, what do you see coming up for yourself and what are you obsessed with, pop culture-wise?

Well, I've got a lot of stuff planned on the books. I think I'll be doing my second film that I wrote, mostly likely be filming that in the summer. And then I have my third novel, the sequel to my first novel, is coming out at end of summer, early fall. And then "Glee." And as far as pop culture, what am I obsessed with? I'm really bad at being obsessed with pop culture. I know I reference it quite a bit in things that I do and write, but I don't know. I really love the new creatures they find in the ocean. That's not really pop culture, that's just being a nerd.

That's still culture.

Yeah, culture. I always love that. I love when they find the new jellyfishes and the new planets and solar systems. I love that.